1998 St. Louis Cardinals season

MLB yearly infobox
name = St. Louis Cardinals
season = 1998
misc = Mark McGwire breaks the Home Run Record

current league = National League
y1 = 1892
division = Central Division
y2 = 1994
Uniform
ballpark = Busch Memorial Stadium
y4 = 1966
city = St. Louis, Missouri
y5 = 1882
owners = William DeWitt, Jr.
managers = Tony La Russa
television = Fox Sports Midwest
(Al Hrabosky, Bob Ramsey)
KPLR
(Bob Carpenter, Bob Ramsey, Rich Goule)
radio = KMOX
(Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Joe Buck)
espntn = stl
brtn = stl

The St. Louis Cardinals 1998 season was the team's 117th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 107th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 83-79 during the season and finished 3rd in the National League Central division.

Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris's single season home run record this season by hitting 70 home runs.

Offseason

*December 5, 1997: Willie McGee was signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcgeewi01.shtml Willie McGee Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*March 30, 1998: Chip Hale was traded by the Anaheim Angels to the St. Louis Cardinals for Craig Shipley. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/halech01.shtml Chip Hale Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]

Regular Season

* On May 8, 1998, Mark McGwire hit career home run number four-hundred in his four-thousand seven-hundred twenty-sixth at bat, which was faster than any other player in history.
* Facing Liván Hernández on May 16, 1998, McGwire hit his longest home run of the 1998 season, an estimated shot of five-hundred forty-five feet.
* Mark McGwire hit single season home run number fifty on August 20, 1998, becoming the first Major League ballplayer in history with three consecutive fifty plus home run seasons.

Opening Day Lineup

* Royce Clayton, SS
* Delino DeShields, 2B
* Gary Gaetti, 3B
* Ron Gant, OF
* Brian Jordan, OF
* Tom Lampkin, C
* Ray Lankford, OF
* Mark McGwire, 1B
* Todd Stottlemyre, P

eason Standings

Notable Transactions

* June 2, 1998: J.D. Drew was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (5th pick) of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed July 3, 1998. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/drewj.01.shtml J.D. Drew Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*April 14, 1998: David Bell was selected off waivers by the Cleveland Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bellda01.shtml]
* July 31, 1998: Todd Stottlemyre was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Royce Clayton to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later, Darren Oliver, and Fernando Tatis. The Texas Rangers sent Mark Little (August 9, 1998) to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the trade.
*August 16, 1998: Tom Pagnozzi was released by the St. Louis Cardinals. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pagnoto01.shtml]

corecard for McGwire’s 70th

On September 27, by|1998, McGwire had 68 Home Runs. After the game, McGwire set the new record with 70 Home Runs. In the third inning. McGwire hit a home runn off of Mike Thurman, and in the seventh inning , he got number 70 off Carl Pavano. The ball was caught by Philip Ozersky. [Sports Illustrated, Volume 109, No. 2, July 14-21, 2008, p.122, Published by Time Inc.] In January 1999, Todd McFarlane purchased Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball from the 1998 season for a record $3 million. [ [http://www.spawn.com/info/todd/bio.long.aspx Spawn.Com >> Info >> Todd Mcfarlane ] ]

September 27, Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Other batters

Relief pitchers

McGwire’s 70

[ [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats1.shtml Mark McGwire's Seventy Home Run Season by Baseball Almanac ] ]

Awards and Honors

* Mark McGwire, Franchise Record, Most Home Runs in One Season (70)
* Mark McGwire, Major League Baseball Home Run Champion
*Mark McGwire, Major League record, Most home runs through July 31 (45) [Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.260, David Nemec and Scott latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0]
* Mark McGwire, First player to hit 50 home runs in three straight seasons: 1996-1998 [http://www.allsports.com/players/mark-mcgwire/]
* Mark McGwire, Associated Press Athlete of the Year [ [http://www.nndb.com/honors/906/000166408/ Associated Press Athlete of the Year (male) ] ]
* Mark McGwire, First Base, Silver Slugger Award
* Mark McGwire, Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year

All-Star Game
* Mark McGwire, First Base, Starter

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1998.shtml 1998 St. Louis Cardinals]
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1998&t=SLN 1998 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com]
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats1.shtml Mark McGwire’s 70 Home Runs on Baseball Almanac]